City requests new senior center trial

Huntington Beach has requested a new trial on the $22-million senior center that was to be built on a 5-acre section of Huntington’s Central Park.

Superior Court Judge David C. Velasquez found the city to be in violation of its general plan and the California Environmental Quality Act on Sept. 29. The judge also determined the city couldn’t use the entire $22 million for the center. The city is requesting a new trial and contesting the three violations the judge found, according to a court document the city filed Friday.

The Parks Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the city in March 2008 challenging the project and won. The judge ordered the city to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report looking into alternative locations.

The facility would have replaced the Michael E. Rodgers Seniors’ Center on Orange Avenue with a 45,000-square-foot, one-story center between the Shipley Nature Center and the disc golf course. The center was expected to be completed in April 2011.

The new senior center would have given residents more than twice as much space, dance and group fitness rooms, a new fitness center and a computer lab, according to senior center staff.

The city is expected to go back to court at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 17.

— Britney Barnes